Lifestyle
A costume designer on the art of building characters for film and TV
How do you know how to dress someone when that person technically doesn’t exist? This inane yet genuine question burned in my mind when I sat down to interview Natasha Newman-Thomas, an award-winning costume designer. Newman-Thomas is the sartorial mastermind behind TV shows including HBO’s “The Idol” and Childish Gambino’s iconic “This Is America” music video (which garnered her a Costume Designers Guild award). Known for her character-driven approach and highly distinctive, vintage-inflected eye, Newman-Thomas explains to me that costume design requires not only a deep understanding, passion, and technical proficiency for clothing design and fashion styling: it also requires an ability to conjure and then investigate a fictionalized character’s psychological makeup. The answer to my question, in short, is that you have to believe in an illusion in order to make it a believable reality.
When you see an actor or musician in a costume designed by Newman-Thomas, the outfit looks authentic in a way that is almost unnoticeable — and this is the point. The selection and styling of the clothes appear so natural and unique to the character that it seems as though they showed up to set wearing it. Her latest subjects are Keanu Reeves and Cameron Diaz in the upcoming film “Outcome,” directed by Jonah Hill. While Newman-Thomas couldn’t get into the details of those characters yet, she shared the peculiar and fascinating details of her art with me and made the case for why flying helicopters is more interesting than sitting through a group critique in art school.
Natasha wears Comme des Garçons Autumn/Winter 2007 dress courtesy of Aralda Vintage, Fendi boots, Gabriella Kiss earrings.
Costumes are the first place where you get to begin storytelling without actually knowing someone.
— Natasha Newman-Thomas
Eugenie Dalland: My Gen-Z cousin had never seen “The Matrix” before, so I recently watched it with her. I realized how crucial all those latex and black leather costumes were to the tone of the film. Why are costumes so important?
Natasha Newman-Thomas: Costumes are the first place where you get to begin storytelling without actually knowing someone. It’s crucial on screen because you want to know as much about a character as you can, instantly, in order to get the viewer involved and on board. If you’re in a dystopian future like “The Matrix,” the costumes pull you in and make you believe in that world and in the story on a surface level.
ED: I’m curious about the nuts and bolts of creating these characters, what you’ve called the “sociological exploration” involved in building them. Who is involved in this process?
NNT: It depends on the project. Sometimes I have one initial conversation with the director, and then they turn the whole thing over to me and let me do my thing. Other times, the director is super involved and we get into the nitty-gritty about every character. And then I’ve been on projects where I do that with the actors, which I like doing because it’s part of the character development for them. It’s super informative for both of us to have those conversations and figure out why a character behaves a certain way, the things that inform who they are, their pathologies.
ED: Shopping is a big part of costume design. What kind of mindset are you in when you’re buying clothes for a character? I imagine it’s sort of meditative.
NNT: It’s definitely meditative! I’m almost trying to put myself in their mental state, and then imagine how they would acquire clothing. Where would they shop? Or would their character only wear hand-me-downs? If so, where would those come from? Someone from their church, a sibling?
ED: I feel like this psychological approach is why your costumes always feel so personalized and unique. It makes the characters more believable as actual individuals. You’re not throwing them into whatever is trendy.
NNT: There’s totally something to be said for capturing a moment in history with [trendy costumes], but typically I strive to make something timeless. I try to make things as unique to the characters as possible.
ED: I’ve always wanted to ask you about the outfit Childish Gambino wears for the “This Is America” music video, which you costumed. It’s very minimal — vintage pants, no shirt, gold chains — but he looks so f—ing cool and moreover, totally natural, authentic. I almost wondered if he showed up to set wearing that look.
NNT: It’s funny you say he looks really natural and embodies the outfit well, because up until 20 minutes before the shoot, Donald [Glover] and I were going back and forth about it. He was like, “I’m not comfortable in that, it inhibits my performance, I just want to wear sweats.” I was like, “no way, sweats are a completely different message, it’s really crucial that these are the pants you wear. If it’s inhibiting your movement, I’ll sew in a gusset.” I was literally sewing a gusset into those pants up until 30 seconds before we shot! I just did another project with Donald a few months ago and he was like, “by the way, you were right about the pants.”
Natasha wears vintage John Galliano 2008 runway dress courtesy of Aralda Vintage. Opposite page: Natasha wears Christian Lacroix jacket, Wolford tights, KNWLS shoes Vivienne Westwood necklace, Gabriella Kiss earrings.
Natasha wears Helmut Lang suit, vintage Frank Zappa shirt from Zappa’s personal collection, Rejina Pyo shoes, Bottega Veneta earrings, Mondo Mondo ring.
ED: What were you aiming for with his costume?
NNT: We referenced some Fela Kuti images, but also the idea of someone who acquires clothes and then really makes them their own. Someone who finds a pair of pants and makes them look sick by styling them in a specific way. That was so important because we didn’t want it to look or feel new, typical, or trendy.
ED: How did you get into costume design?
NNT: I went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago because they didn’t make you choose between fashion and fine art, you could do both, which is what I wanted. But eventually I had the rude awakening that you really couldn’t do both. I took every fashion class I could without committing to being in the fashion design program there. A few years in, I realized I didn’t want to sit through a critique and hear people bulls— about “juxtaposition” ever again. I decided to drop out and move back to L.A. and go to helicopter school to be a pilot.
ED: Wait, what?
NNT: There’s a nonprofit program at the Compton Airport. It’s amazing. I’d love to go back and finish my flight hours and get my license. Anyway, while I was there, an old professor friend of mine from the Art Institute called and said, “I’m moving to L.A. to do costumes on this show, I’d love for you to try assisting me.” My first day on set I was like, “this is literally made for me, it combines all my interests.” The pacing, the creative problem solving, the clothes, the character development, all of it. That was it. Day One. I feel very blessed that I found a job where I can make money and do what I love.
ED: What are some movies that made a strong impression on you in terms of costume design?
NNT: There’s so many. I actually just did a symposium about [Jean Paul] Gaultier’s costumes for “The Fifth Element.” I also love his work on “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.” The costume design really blends with the production design, it’s so artful.
ED: What’s an unexpected shopping tip you tell people?
NNT: This is so cheesy: Be clothes minded, not closed minded. [laughter] I love to go into a shopping experience with the idea that you can really style anything to make it interesting. A game I’ll play with my best friend is we’ll send each other pictures of things and ask, “how would you make this cool?” Like “how would you make a pair of Toms cool?” I love a good challenge.
ED: How do you make a pair of Toms cool?
NNT: The way I would do it is to cast a Toms shoe in a block of resin, and then put another Toms shoe on top of it. So it’s a platform shoe with the Toms inside the platform and then the other one on top.
ED: Please make this shoe.
NNT: Our first question when we start anything is what’s not cool right now, what is no one doing, and how can we use that to our advantage? We did an Yves Tumor music video and I was like, “no one is doing indie sleaze right now, I’m going to cover a pair of jeans in the Strokes patches, that’ll be so weird!” Two years later, the Strokes were playing the Celine show. It’s fun to try to get ahead of the cycle. It’s getting harder to do because with the internet, everything moves so much faster now, people just gobble up trends. But it’s creating an interesting position for designers to be forced to come up with new things that no one’s seen before, that aren’t referential. I think it could be really exciting. Fingers crossed.
Hair & Makeup Paige Wishart
Lighting Director David Lopez
Styling Assistants Margaux Solano, Tommy Petroni
Natasha wears Christian Lacroix jacket, Wolford tights, KNWLS shoes Vivienne Westwood necklace, Gabriella Kiss earrings.

Eugenie Dalland is a writer based in New York. Her essays, profiles and reviews have appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Hyperallergic, BOMB, Cultured Magazine, the Brooklyn Rail and elsewhere. She publishes the arts and culture magazine Riot of Perfume.

Lifestyle
From the perfect toasting glass to a delightful can opener, elevate your summer with these design-driven pieces

If you buy a product linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission. See all our Coveted lists of mandatory items here.
Omega, Seamaster Diver 300M in Burgundy, $29,400
Inspired by James Bond in “No Time to Die” (2021), the Seamaster Diver 300M combines cinematic suave with Swiss precision for a timepiece worthy of adventure. Pair the glossy burgundy bezel ring with a brushed bronze mesh bracelet or black rubber band. Purchase 👉🏽 here.
Baccarat Harmonie Tumblers, $600 for a set of two

Creative cocktail enthusiasts should look forward to Baccarat’s newest line of Harmonie Tumblers, now in pastel blue, pink, yellow and turquoise. The double-cased crystal tumblers, which feature the Harmonie collection’s signature parallel vertical cuts, offer the perfect toasting glasses for a summer of celebrations. Purchase 👉🏽 here.
The Perfect Nothing Catalog, can opener, $1,200

Artist and designer Frank Traynor reimagines the everyday with “The Perfect Nothing Catalog,” an ongoing project that infuses ordinary home objects with a whimsical charm. Traynor’s can opener, adorned with earth-toned stones, will brighten up your kitchen and turn a low-key night of home cooking into a unique and surprisingly delightful experience. Purchase 👉🏽 here.
Mykita x Rimowa, visor sunglasses in electrum mirror, $660

German innovators MYKITA and RIMOWA have teamed up to design the sleekest sunglasses for life in motion. The VISOR collection provides wraparound coverage and 100% UV protection — only first-class treatment for MYKITA’s collaboration with the luxury luggage brand. Finished in a cool, sandy hue, these shades are as bold as they are refined. Purchase 👉🏽 here.
Loewe Salone del Mobile collection

From left to right: Simone Fattal, Rosemarie Trockel, Madoda Fani
(LOEWE)
Luxury fashion house Loewe invited 25 artists, designers and architects from across the globe to defy convention for its 2025 collection of teapots, available exclusively at Palazzo Citterio in Milan. Choose from artistic innovations such as Shozo Michikawa’s angular ceramic sculpture, David Chipperfield’s copper-handled design and Madoda Fani’s unglazed, rich red hue. Browse 👉🏽 here.
Balmain Beauty, Blanc Galaxie, $190

Citrusy notes of Buddha’s hand, bergamot and cédrat burst from Balmain Beauty’s newest eau de parfum, Blanc Galaxie. Inspired by March’s lunar eclipse, the fragrance’s refreshing, spiced aroma is otherworldly yet elegant. The bottle echoes Balmain’s original flacon from 1946, blending heritage and contemporary sophistication with every detail. Purchase 👉🏽 here.
Rick Owens, Beach Pillow in Pearl, $400

For the avant-garde beachgoer and cozy homebody alike, Rick Owens has you covered this summer. The pillow’s comfy, off-white terrycloth embodies Owens’ signature aesthetic of minimalism and monochrome, elevating your everyday lounging. Purchase 👉🏽 here.
Lifestyle
SNL's 50th season proved it's still relevant. Can it stay that way?

On Saturday Night Live’s cold open, James Austin Johnson played President Donald Trump and Emil Wakim played Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a sketch about Trump’s Middle East trip.
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After watching a storied comedy brand finish one of its most creatively successful seasons in recent memory, I couldn’t help but think of a pressing question:
What’s next for Saturday Night Live?
No matter how well things go on a given episode or in a given season, it isn’t long before that question re-emerges — especially given how eager some in the entertainment press have always been to pen the show’s eulogy. In a way, it’s the biggest drawback for a show that boasts the potential of reinventing itself every week.
Ironically, Saturday’s episode didn’t give many hints about the ultimate answer, despite capping SNL’s highly-hyped 50th anniversary season.
Even though Weekend Update co-host Colin Jost’s wife Scarlett Johansson hosted this year’s season finale – boosting rumors that he and onscreen partner Michael Che might announce their departure then – they didn’t, and everything unfolded in a typical fashion featuring a star who has become a regular, game contributor. (Though Jost did hand his wife a bouquet of red roses during the final goodbye segment.)

The numbers, provided by NBC, tell a story of success: they say SNL will finish its season as the top broadcast entertainment program among viewers aged 18 to 49. (That’s a relatively youthful and ad-friendly group for TV watchers.) The network also says this season has averaged 8.2 million viewers each week across all platforms.
So, as much as some critics may still want to shade the show, SNL remains one of the most powerful brands in comedy. But following up the hype of its 50th anniversary next season may be its biggest remaining challenge.
Here’s where I think SNL stands – and questions that remain – as it wraps up one of its most successful seasons in recent memory.
What happens to Weekend Update if Jost and Che both depart after this season?
The biggest parlor game among SNL fans at the end of a season is playing “who’s leaving the cast this year?” Johansson even joked in her musical monologue that castmember Sarah Sherman was leaving, to Sherman’s mock astonishment. And the biggest rumor before Saturday’s broadcast was that Weekend Update hosts and veteran writers Jost and Che might be out the door after cementing their status as the longest-running anchors of SNL’s newscast parody.
Colin Jost and Michael Che during Weekend Update in December.
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In recent years, Update has emerged as the most reliable segment in an often-uneven show, as Che and Jost honed their oddball chemistry as an uncaring provocateur paired with a snarky guy willing to parody his own privilege. Assuming they might still leave, let me breeze past obvious successor suggestions — like castmember and frequent Update contributor Michael Longfellow — to provide a suggestion from left field: Josh Johnson, the prolific standup comic and Daily Show correspondent. It’s true that Johnson, who has built a growing fanbase with a long string of immensely popular YouTube videos, already seems to be developing a career on his own terms. But taking the reins of a comedy institution like Update could boost his work to a new level while pointing the way toward SNL’s future.
SNL made news this year beyond its comedy.
Who knew an SNL bit could spark real-life gossip about one of TV’s biggest hits? After Sherman parodied The White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood in the sketch dubbed “The White Potus,” Wood called the portrayal “mean and unfunny” on social media and loads of coverage followed. (It didn’t help that Wood’s Lotus co-star Walton Goggins initially complimented the sketch on SNL’s Instagram page, fueling rumors of a rift between the two.)
Sarah Sherman during “The White Potus” sketch on April 12, 2025.
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And, in a separate controversy, a bit Ego Nwodim led playing a hacky standup comic during an Update segment prompted the audience to shout out a curse word in unison, unplanned. Nwodim says she eventually talked to executive producer Lorne Michaels to see if the show was going to be fined — and in a bit during Saturday’s Update playing that character again, she was a little more careful about what cues she gave the audience. But that earlier bit also produced one of the most talked-about moments of the season. Proof that SNL can still make news even when the subject isn’t its landmark anniversary.
Speculation about when or whether Lorne Michaels will leave the show now seems beside the point.
At age 80, Michaels seems like the Highlander of network television – an enduring force, forever the show’s wise and steady hand, guiding events from behind-the-scenes. However he has divided authority among his lieutenants, things seem to be working – the show produced a string of consistently good episodes in 2025, particularly in programs featuring guests hosts Jack Black and Jon Hamm. Those successes, combined with the reputation-boosting triumph of the 50th anniversary celebrations, should be enough to quiet the “when is Lorne retiring?” rumors for at least another season. (As I have said before, when the inevitable retirement does happen, if the show doesn’t end, I think Seth Meyers would be an awesome successor, or perhaps Jost.)
Despite a Kamala Harris cameo, SNL hasn’t quite figured out a consistently groundbreaking way to lampoon modern politics. But that’s okay.
It feels like a lifetime ago when then-Vice President Harris sat across from Maya Rudolph in a sketch airing just before November’s presidential election. That was also the episode that gave us a cavalcade of celebrity guest stars playing political figures, including Dana Carvey as then-President Joe Biden, Andy Samberg as Harris’ hubby Doug Emhoff and Jim Gaffigan as Harris’ running mate Tim Walz.
Maya Rudolph and then-Vice President Kamala Harris during the cold open on November 2, 2024.
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But too few of those big comedic swings seemed to hit their mark this season. Amid the shock of keeping up with the second Trump administration, SNL only intermittently captured the chaos of the times. Even the political sketches centered on James Austin Johnson’s impeccable impression of the president sometimes could feel like a transcript of the real-life POTUS’ scattershot musings — especially in Saturday’s “cold open” sketch, which satirized President Trump’s Middle East trip a day after the real-life POTUS flew back from it. (“The White Potus” sketch, its Wood impression notwithstanding, was a brilliant step up.) The lesson here: perhaps it’s time to stop expecting SNL to nail the political moment every week and give them space to find new angles.

In a world where comedy brands are increasingly built on podcasts and social media videos, SNL still matters.
As late night TV erodes in other timeslots and younger viewers desert traditional television platforms, SNL faced a season where it had to argue for its relevance while also paying tribute to an astonishing comedy legacy. (The nitpicker in me is compelled to note that SNL’s 50th anniversary technically isn’t until later this year; the show debuted on Oct. 11, 1975.) But the massive celebration surrounding its 50th anniversary season, which started last September, elevated SNL by reminding audiences what a cultural institution it truly is.
Indeed, the show’s history was too big to fit into one special, with its three-and-a-half hour prime time extravaganza in February preceded by a commemorative concert, Questlove’s brilliant documentary on the show’s musical history and a four-part docuseries on Peacock. The giant-size celebration served as a potent reminder that, frustrating as SNL’s inconsistencies can be week-to-week, there is no other program like it on American television – a live showcase for the best TV comedy featuring top performers reacting to pop culture and politics very nearly in real time.
Small wonder there’s a six-episode version of SNL planned for British TV next year.
Lifestyle
Justin and Hailey Bieber Go to Toronto Maple Leafs Playoff Game

Justin & Hailey Bieber
Cheesing At NHL Playoff Game
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Justin and Hailey Bieber look like a happy couple again … and all it took was some front-row tickets to an important hockey game for his favorite team.
The Biebers are all smiles Sunday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, where they are watching Justin’s Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Florida Panthers in a win-or-go-home situation.
Justin and Bieber are cheesing from their seats right behind the Maple Leafs’ bench … and she’s got on a Maple Leafs jacket while he wears a bucket hat and sunglasses indoors.
The Biebs is having a Sunday fun day for the books … earlier in the day he posted a rare photo with his father, bragging he beat his old man in a game of golf.
As we reported … Justin and Hailey did their own separate things Friday in Los Angeles, but 48 hours later they are looking like two peas in a pod.

TMZ Studios
We have a new documentary — “TMZ Investigates: What Happened to Justin Bieber?”, steaming now on Hulu — where we look at Justin’s financial issues, mental health, marital struggles and more.
Justin looks super happy here … but we’ll see if the game result affects his mood … as of this post, Toronto and Florida are tied 0-0 after the first period.
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